Naomi Osaka was back on the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on Wednesday for the first time since she stepped away from competition last year to take maternity leave and give birth to her daughter, Shai.
Osaka was on hand to speak as part of a panel on mental health, but she announced in an interview with ESPN that she would return to the court for the Australian Open in January and that her schedule would be more jam-packed than ever.
“It’s definitely way more tournaments than I used to play,” Osaka told the network. “So I think some people will be happy with that.”
Osaka said the increase in her schedule for next year will be due to the unknown surrounding how she will play once she returns to action.
“Honestly I think it’s because I realized I don’t know how the beginning of the year is going to go for me,” she said during the sit-down. “I don’t know the level of play and I think I kind of have to ease into it. At the very least I’m going to set myself up for a very good end of the year.”
Osaka last played in September 2022, when she participated in the Japan Open.
Prior to that, she was eliminated in the first round of the U.S. Open by American Danielle Collins.
The 25-year-old said that she has been doing “a lot of training” and said that she was even training during her pregnancy.
Being back at the U.S. Open amid her time away from tennis, she said, further reignited the desire to get back on the court.
“I’ve been watching matches and I’m like I kind of wish I was playing too,” the former No. 1-ranked player said. “But I’m in this position now and I’m very grateful. I really love my daughter a lot, but I think it really fueled a fire in me.”
Osaka has had immense success, winning four Grand Slam titles, including U.S. Open championships in 2018 and 2020. She called being back at Flushing Meadows “kind of like seeing an old friend I haven’t seen in a long time.”
A vocal advocate for increasing attention to mental health in sports, Osaka made worldwide headlines when she withdrew from the French Open in 2021 due to her mental health.
She has continued to talk about it since in an attempt to destigmatize the subject.
“I would say my role is just raising awareness. Letting people know that they’re not alone,” she said. “Physical pain and mental pain is sort of the same to me and we have doctors for physical health, but when we talk about mental health it’s not as well received.”